Superman punching white supremacists, and other great DC Comics coming this fall

Gene Luen Yang’s and Gurihiru’s Superman Smashes the Klan might have the best hook of any comic on the stands this October, but it’s by no means the only exciting thing on DC Comics’ slate.

From Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch on Batman, to a new Harley Quinn origin, to Grant Morrison’s total takeover of the Green Lantern Corps., here are the coolest DC Comics coming out this fall.

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The Batman’s Grave

Written by Warren Ellis, drawn by Bryan Hitch; kicking off Oct. 9

The creative team behind Stormwatch and The Authority is back together, and they’re bringing their talents to bear on the biggest superhero of them all: Batman. The Batman’s Grave, from Warren Ellis (Nextwave, Transmetropolitan) and his collaborator Bryan Hitch (The Ultimates, Justice League), will feature a Batman obsessed with putting himself in the shoes of the victims in the murders he solves, and an Alfred Pennyworth wondering when there’ll be one more grave in the Wayne family plot.

Ellis calls this his “proper, big Batman story,” so expect big things.

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Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity

Written by Kami Garcia, drawn by Mike Mayhew; kicking off Oct. 9

Kami Garcia is a New York Times bestselling author, and her work on Teen Titans: Raven, the first in a series of YA graphic novels, is already quite solid. So I’m excited to see her tackle a book for an adult audience at Black Label, and with Mike Mayhew’s gorgeous painted style to go with it.

Above all, I’m interested to see someone a new take on the very tragic origin story of Dr. Harleen Quinzel — especially one written by a woman.

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Gene Luen Yang, Gurihiru/DC Comics

Superman Smashes the Klan

Written by Gene Luen Yang, drawn by Gurihiru; hitting shelves on Oct. 9

“Clan of the Fiery Cross” is a 1946 Superman radio serial that’s credited with so ridiculing and exposing the Ku Klux Klan that it actually had an effect on the hate organization’s recruitment efforts. Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru’s Superman Smashes the Klan aims to adapt the story of “Clan of the Fiery Cross” for comics for the first time, and to do it for a kid audience.

Individually, Yang and Gurihiru’s work tops many a best of list, and together they crafted many of the quite nifty Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novels. The art from Smashes the Klan already looks incredible, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the book.

Liam Sharpe/DC Comics

Green Lantern: Blackstars

Written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Xermanico; kicking off Nov. 6

Major events are afoot in the DC Universe’s Green Lantern setting, culminating with this fall’s Green Lantern: Blackstars, a new three-issue series from artist Xermanico (Wonder Woman, Injustice: Gods Among Us) and legendary comics writer Grant Morrison.

According to DC’s hinting, the Blackstars are the advance guard of a creepy space cult, which has somehow replaced the entire Green Lantern Corps as if it never existed at all. Weird and wild? Well, that’s Grant Morrison. You can expect a Hal Jordan story for the ages.

Far Sector

Written by N.K. Jemisin, drawn by Jamal Campbell; kicking off on Nov. 13

N.K. Jemisin is the first author ever to win three successive Hugo awards for Best Novel for three books in the same series, her Broken Earth trilogy. Her writing shows exquisite world building, compelling characters, and drama that’ll pull your heart right out of your chest. Jamal Campbell’s work on Naomi with Brian Bendis has been kicking me in the ass all year. He’s nothing short of incredible, from his expressions, to his character designs, to his page layouts.

If it was just a team-up between these two, I’d already be salivating to see what they do together, but we even known who Far Sector is about: Green Lantern Sojourner “Jo” Mullein, guardian of the City Enduring. The City is a Dyson sphere on the far edge of space, where emotions, the source of all Lanterns’ power, are outlawed, and the series announcement promised “a dizzying game of politics and philosophies as Jo discovers a brewing revolution in the City.” I fully believe Jemisin and Campbell can deliver.

The finale of Doomsday Clock

Written by Geoff Johns, drawn by Gary Frank; launching in 2019 ... hopefully?

When Geoff Johns and Gary Frank announced Doomsday Clock, the series that promised to bring the characters of Watchmen to the main DC Universe and provide an in-canon explanation for how gritty everything got at the beginning of the New 52, they said that they anticipated delays.

But probably not 11-issues-over-22-months delayed. As of this writing, Doomsday Clock #11 is scheduled to hit shelves on Sept. 4, and it seems reasonable (though perhaps not exactly plausible) to expect that we’ll see the final issue of Doomsday Clock, one in which Doctor Manhattan and Superman (presumably) square off and we all get to find out whether the universe ends, before the end of the year. Maybe even in November, so the series can go out exactly two years after it began.

When it was announced, the folks behind Doomsday Clock promised that its finale would spell major changes for the DCU, but the DCU has now moseyed right along through an extra year of its own changes since the series kicked off — including huge changes in the Superman office. It’ll be fascinating to watch Doomsday Clock finally reach the end of its countdown.